Apocalypsestuck
by XxXWarriorsHeartXxX
Summary: Alternia is just a shadow of it's former self. The undead are roaming the streets and wilderness of the once beautiful planet that you called home. Your name is Astris Terrin and right now, you're just trying to survive for one more day. Rated M for language and gore later on.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

This is the first Fanfic that I've done. Any kind of criticism and advice is welcomed. This Story was started when I was RPing with a friend a while back. This first chapter will be short but I will pick up the pace and make the chapters longer as they go on. All trolls in this story are OC's and belong to myself and my friend. Homestuck belongs to Andrew Hussie. Enjoy~!

Chapter 1

Your name is Astris Terrin. You are a 7.8 sweep old female troll with dark green blood and a love for hunting. Your lusus is a large wolfbeast who had taught you how to hunt as soon as you could walk and hold a weapon. Wolfmom, as you call her, has always been a little wary of strangers and has been known to bite ant troll that she doesn't like. Because of this, you've always had to warn both her and any troll that you invite over to your hive. You've been traveling with your friends for several weeks now. There's Trenan Blathe, your matesprite of several sweeps. He is a kind hearted and brave Teal-blooded troll. He always loved to play any new videogame that came out. Though, he normally sucks at them so bad that even a grub could beat him. He only gets them due to the fact that they're a huge deal at the time when they come out. Still, you love him, even if he wastes all of his money on games that he'd only play once before giving up on because they're 'too hard to play.'

Next is Kaaleb Dereth, a blue-blooded troll that has been willing to quite literally throw himself in front of danger just to save another troll. He's been your moirail since the two of you were wrigglers. He grew up with always having to patch you up whenever you got hurt. Due to your habit of always getting hurt, he became an expert in his medical practice and was able to effectively bind any and all of your wounds while teaching you a thing or two about first-aid. Then there's Finnie. Finnie was always the upbeat one in the group who had the infectious personality. This small olive-blooded troll always had your group of friends laughing whenever she told jokes or did some ridiculous stunt.

It's been two to three weeks since the first outbreak. Astris and her small group of survivors have been holed up inside an abandoned hive. The first 'incident', as many trolls called it, was nothing more than a troll falling ill and dying soon after being bitten by an insane troll. Of course, that's what the media wants everyone to believe. Soon after his 'death' the troll that was bitten came back to life. Well, not 'back to life' per say, more like reanimated. Soon after, more and more attacks were reported and trolls were advised to say as far away from those who showed the signs of infection. Such signs included the edges of a troll's eyes to become cloudy or milky white. An unquenchable thirst. And last, an insatiable hunger. The first twenty-four hours were important for any troll that had been infected and could mean the difference between life and death. Some trolls were immune to the airborne virus and others, the contact born. There were a rare few that were immune to both and didn't turn after the twenty four hours were up.

"Another day, another survivor…" Astris grumbled as she watched a troll fall to the ground a few yards from the hive you and your friends were hiding in. Leveling your scope, you took aim at the walkers that had started to surround the poor bastard. Her finger slowly slid down and squeezed the trigger. One, two, three, she counted off in your head as you hit each zombie in the head. They fell to the ground, twitching before going still for the last time. "Hey you, over here!" She called from the third story window where you sniped walkers. "Get in here now! That is, unless you want to become one of them!" The troll looked at you in confusion for a moment before nodding and running to the door of the hive. "Kaaleb, Trenan, we have another one coming in!" The green-blooded she-troll called down the hall. The two ran down the stairs from their makeshift infirmary to the front of the hive. So far, the small group has been growing larger by the day as more and more trolls passed by.

The door opened down stairs followed by cursing and the growls of the undead. The troll sprang to her feet, gun in hand and ran down the stairs. "Move!" Astris barked as she took aim at the walkers that were trying to force their way in. Trenan knelt down near the base of the door while her blue-blooded moirail pulled the new troll up the stairs into one of the spare rooms. She took aim at the walkers once more and fired off several rounds. When the numbers died down, the she-troll ran forward to the door and used the butt of her gun to force the rest of the walkers out. Forcing the door shut, Astris and Trenan slid to the ground. The undead outside continued to moan and pound on the door. "Great shot, Ast, as always." The teal-blooded male said to his green-blooded matesprite. The she-troll laughed for a moment before looking at the troll she loved most on all of Alternia. "Thanks." She smiled. "We should probably move that shelf back in front of the door now, huh?" she asked. Trenan nodded and got to his feet. The two walked over to the shelf and took their places on either side. "One, two, Move..." Trenan said. Astris lifted and pulled on her side of the shelf while the teal-blooded male pushed. After a few steps, the shelf was back in place blocking the door and preventing any troll, walker or not, from entering the hive.

"Hey Trenan, I'm going to go see if Kaaleb needs help. Would you mind making me a bit of tea?" The green-blood asked. "Yeah, sure. Anything for you, Ast." He said with that same laid back smile that he had since they first met. Astris quickly pecked him on the check. "Thanks, love. I'll be back in a little bit. I'll try not to stay too long." With that, the she-troll went upstairs. She knocked on the first door to her right before entering. "Kaaleb? Do you need any help?" she asked, poking her head into the room. The blue-blood turned his head to look at his moirail. "Hey, Astris," He said. "Yeah, could you get me some fresh water? This guy's got a few scratches that'll need cleaned. And while you're at it, can you bring some extra wraps? He sprained his ankle when he fell." Nodding, Astris left the room and walked down the hall to one of the other rooms, searching for the required items. Making her way into the bathroom area of the hive, she grabbed three clean wraps and went back down the stairs of the hive to the nutrition block.

In the nutrition block, Astris grabbed a jug of fresh water from the refrigeration unit. Pulling a large bowl from the shelves, she poured the water into it. Grabbing the last thing she needed, a clean rag, the green-blood walked back up the stairs and back to the room where her moirail was patching up the new troll in. Knocking on the door, she entered and placed the bowl, rag, and fresh wraps next to Kaaleb. "Do you need anything else?" She asked. "No, this will be enough for now. Thanks Astris." He replied, a smile creasing his face. The female troll wandered around her moirail to watch his work. Kaaleb took the troll's sprained ankle and wrapped it tightly enough to keep it supported yet loosely enough to allow blood to flow to the foot. The blue-blood had already bandaged the more serious injuries on the troll in front of them. Astris' dark green eyes searched the troll in front of her for any injuries. Her gaze rested on an old, dirty bandage stained with mustard-yellow blood. A bite wound… she said to herself, how long has he been like this? She knew Kaaleb had seen it too. From the corner of her eye, she saw a frown tug at the corners of his mouth.

Kaaleb stood and pulled Astris out of the door with him. "Astris, we'll need to keep an eye on him." He whispered, trying to keep others from over hearing them. "I don't know if he's immune or not. I mean, sure he's not showing any signs of infection yet, but that doesn't mean that he's not going to turn." The blue-blooded boy looked away for a minute. "I'll go tell Trenan," The green-blood said, starting back down the hall toward the stairs. Kaaleb reached out and grabbed her arm. "You can't tell him, Ast. Not yet. If word got around now, everyone will panic. I'll check on him every hour to see if there's any change in his condition. If he takes a turn for the worse, I'll tell Trenan and take care of it." Dark green eyes gazed into blue as Astris tried to decipher what he was trying to do. "… You want to give him a chance…" she whispered, breaking eye contact. "Yes… I do…" "Fine. I won't tell Trenan." She sighed, walking down the stairs and out the back door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The back yard looked more like a detainment facility. There were high walls built around a fairly large area and were high enough to keep the walkers out. Astris looked around the yard with a small smile. Her gaze rested on a mound of white fur a few yards away. Well ok, there were more than one mound of white fur in the yard but this one was special to the green-blood. She ran to the sleeping lusus and buried her face into the soft white form. "Hey Mom, I'm back." The large beast, known lovingly by the trolls in the group of survivors as Wolfmom, swung her head around to look at the troll she chose as her charge and nuzzled her face. "We got another survivor today. It looks like he's been bitten. Kaaleb wants to give him a chance and see which way he's going to go." She mumbled into her lusus' side. The great wolfbeast huffed and quietly growled. "I know Mom. I should tell Trenan. I would have too if Kaaleb hadn't gotten me to promise to not tell him." _I trust him_, she said to herself, _He's my moirail, why wouldn't I trust him? _She looked at her lusus. "You must be hungry huh? I'll go see what I can scrounge up for you." Astris stood and started off back to the hive.

A scream from the other side of the door made the green-blood freeze in her tracks. Pulling a pistol from a holster on her hip, Astris placed her hand on the doorknob and turned. Pulling the door open she was greeted by a wide eyed troll. The other troll, a female yellow-blood, opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to speak before her legs gave out from under her. The green-blood reacted quickly and caught the other troll before she hit the ground. Astris eased the yellow blood to the ground before asking her a series of questions. "Narona. Narona, what's wrong? What's happening?" Inside the hive, Astris could hear other trolls screaming, doors slamming shut, and moaning. _Shit. _Astris stood up and left the scared yellow-blood on the ground. "Go outside to my mom. Do not come back in, no matter what." The green-blood growled, taking one last glance at the troll in the doorway. Narona nodded and shakily walked out to the large wolfbeast. Astris closed the door behind her and continued forward, pistol ready and finger resting on the side of the gun.

Trolls ran back and forth inside. A few were cowering in corners or locked themselves in rooms. A troll came around the corner, gun in hand, and ran into her, knocking her to the ground. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she looked at the troll who also sat a foot away from her. "Trenan! What the hell is going on?" she hissed to her matesprite. Trenan got to his feet and offered his hand to the green-blooded she-troll. "Turns out that the troll you let in was one of them. He must have been bitten sometime last night." Astris took his hand and stood up. Her blood pusher nearly stopped when he explained the situation. She had only been outside for an hour. How could he have turned so quickly? "Trenan, where's Kaaleb?" The teal-blood looked away for a moment before looking back. "He's… Still upstairs. He locked himself in another room with the rest of the injured trolls. There's like ten walkers up there… No. No Ast. You are not going up there to help him." He tightened his grip on her arm. "I'm sorry, Tren. He's my moirail. I have to go help him."

Astris pulled her arm from his grip and walked past him. "I promise: I will be careful. Get everyone that you can and get them into the back yard." With that, she ran up the stairs. There were only half as many walkers in the upstairs hall than what Trenan had said there was. This came as no big surprise to the green-blood because she knew how Trenan liked to exaggerate at times. She took aim at the head of the first walker and fired. A sickly shade of yellow blood colored the wall behind the walker as it fell to the ground. The other four turned their attention to Astris and shambled towards her. She fired two more rounds, killing the next two walkers. She retreated back a few steps before the back of her foot caught something and caused her to fall. The air rushed out from her lungs when she made contact with the ground.

The walker closest to the green-blood lunged for her. Astris fired again, killing the walker a foot from her. She aimed at the last zombie in the hall way and squeezed the trigger. _Click._ "Fuck." She hissed rolling to her left as the zombie lunged at her, landing where she was a second before. She was out of ammo and the zombie was trying to crawl towards her. She reached for the knife that was strapped to her thigh as she sprang to her feet. Astris pulled the knife up and out of its sheathe and held it up, waiting for her undead enemy to make the first move. When the walker staggered upward to its feet, Astris readied the knife. The walker lunged for her again and the green-blood dodged to the left and slid past it, stopping behind it. "Ast, Is everything ok up there? Do you need help?" Trenan's voice from the bottom of the stairs caused her to turn around. A growl from the walker and the sudden impact from hitting the ground again snapped her attention back to the fight. "I-I'm fine Tren." She yelled grabbing a stray book that lay on her right and bringing it up to the zombies open mouth. She wedged the book into the walker's open mouth and shoved it off.

She leapt at the walker and pinned it down. A rage filled scream ripped from her throat as she drove the knife into the undead troll's head. It lay under her, twitching for a few moments before going still. Mustard yellow blood seeped out from the wound as she pulled the knife from the zombies head. This was the troll she saved earlier in the evening. Astris bit down on her lip to keep herself from screaming again. Her sharp incisor cut into her lip and caused her dark green blood to slide down the side of her mouth. Taking a deep breath and wiping away the blood from her lip, she looked at the door where her moirail and a few other troll hid. "It's safe to come out now." She called, turning to go back down the stairs.

"Ast-?" Trenan said when you came down to the first floor only to be cut off by a raised hand. Concern was apparent when he spoke. She knew what he would do or say in any situation like this. Right now, she didn't care. All the she-troll wanted right now was to be alone. She walked to the nutrition block and grabbed a small bottle of water from the refrigeration unit and walked to the back yard. Ok so she didn't want to be alone, if anything, she wanted to be with her guardian and cry.

She wandered outside into the early morning air. The smell of the undead wafting over the walls surrounding the yard caused her lip to curl in disgust. She came to her custodian and laydown, leaning comfortably into the soft, warm fur. The warmth and smell of the large wolfbeast mixed with the adrenaline rush that had started to wear off made the green-blood drowsy. Her ears perked at the sound of the rear hive door opening and closing. She dismissed this as one of the other trolls who had come to feed the lusii in the yard. Astris rolled over and closed her eyes as the troll approached, hoping that whoever it was would leave her alone. The footsteps halted on the other side of Wolfmom. Astris heard the large lusus sniff and grunt. Cracking an eye, she couldn't see the troll right noow, but she knew who it was.

"Go away, Finnie." The green-blood grumbled. Despite her foul mood, a small smile cracked her otherwise stern features. "Oh c'mon Astris. I see that smile!" The smaller troll giggled. The small olive-blood, nearly ten inches shorter than the older green-blood, slid down Wolfmom's flank and landed next to her friend. "You can't be grumpy _all_ the time. C'mon, tell me what happened. Did you get in a fight with Trenan again, or was it Kaaleb?" she said, eyes seeming to shine with that cheerful light that she never seemed to lose, even if something bad happened to her. "No, Finn, I didn't have a fight with either of them. Earlier in the evening, I saved another survivor. Turns out, he was infected and had killed four others in his room and turned them as well. I had to put them out of their misery…" The older she-troll fell silent. _Yeah,_ she said to herself, _put them out of their misery. _"Oh… Sorry." The small olive-blood said, looking down. "It's fine, really. I don't feel as sad when I talk with you about these things. Maybe it's because of your infectiously cheerful nature!" she said, leaning over and tickling her smaller friend, gaining a fit of laughter from her.

For what seemed like hours, Astris and Finnie talked. The two female trolls recounted their pasts and memories. Some sad and hard to talk about, others cheerful and funny. Astris looked up at the darkening sky. "It's hard to believe that it's been two whole sweeps since we played the Game." Finnie said quietly. "…Yeah… It seems like it was just yesterday since we entered the Medium and fought the Queen. Yeah sure we died a few times, but we got to God Tier and beat it." Astris responded looking at the olive-blooded troll with a smile. "Mhm and we still have residual powers left over from after the game. Or at least Kaaleb does." "Yeah-" Another scream from the hive cut her off.

Astris looked at Finnie for a moment before she jumped to her feet. She ran to the rear door of the hive and looked in through the screen. The bookshelf that was in front of the front door was gone and more and undead were pouring into the hive every minute. Astris pulled a small one foot rod from her belt and pressed a hidden switch. The rod extended to five feet and a curved scythe-like blade slid out from each end, facing opposite directions. Narona came up to the two she-trolls to see what all the screaming was about. When the yellow-blood saw the undead trolls wandering throughout the house her face paled and she looked like she was about to faint. "Narona get all the lusii ready to leave." The yellow-blood nodded and ran as fast as she could get all the lusii up and ready for their charges. "Finnie, you and I will go inside and try to lead as many trolls as possible back out here and get them ready as well. After that, we'll gather what supplies we can and leave." The small olive-blood nodded and got ready to move on Astris' signal. Astris opened the door and moved farther into the house. There were no trolls on the first floor of the hive that weren't undead.

The two she-trolls ran to the staircase leading up to the next level of the hive. Astris pressed a secondary switch on her weapon and retracted the blades of her scythe and used the pole to knock the walkers that were crowding the stairs out of the way. Behind her, Finnie used her own weapon to finish off any walkers that came too close. At the top of the stairs, the two trolls continued to fight their way through the horde. "Trenan! Kaaleb! Where are you?" Astris called. A muffled reply came from the third room on the left side of the hall. The green-blooded she-troll swung over her head and brought down the pole with all the strength that she could muster. The skull of the walker in front of her caved in as her staff came crashing down, killing it in an instant. She repeated this same move, killing walkers left and right. The undead trolls that she didn't manage to kill were picked off easily by Finnie. When Astris got to the door, she knocked signaling that it was safe to come out again. "Everyone, get to the back yard, now!" she called as troll after troll exited the room and headed downstairs. Once every troll was out, Kaaleb and Trenan exited last. Astris gave both of the trolls a hug and led them downstairs and out to the back yard.

In the yard, Astris, Trenan, Finnie, and Kaaleb watched as trolls were paired with their lusii and handed supplies. Wolfmom and a grazebeast lusus came up to the four trolls. The large wolfbeast nudged her charge and growled quietly. Astris nodded, understanding what her mother figure was saying, and relayed the message to her friends. "Mom says that she can carry Trenan and I. Kaaleb, Finnie, you two are going to have to ride on the other lusus for now. We need to get out of the city as fast as possible before it gets darker." Astris walked over to the supplies pile and grabbed several bags and passed them off to each troll. She slung her bag up and over her shoulder and hopped up on the large wolfbeast's flank and climbed onto her back. When she was situated, she signaled to her matesprite that he could come up. Trenan scaled the large lusus in much the same way that the green-blood did. Kaaleb and Finnie mounted the lusus that they were assigned and prepared to leave the city.

"Everybody listen up!" Astris called out to the remaining group of survivors. Once all eyes were on her, she continued to speak. "We are leaving the city in a few minutes so be ready for anything. As you all have probably figured out by now, some of us will not be able to make it to the next check point. We'll have to be careful and keep an eye on one another. If someone's lusus is taken down, do not go back for them. If the lusus goes down in front of you, you and the trolls that will be fighting for their lives will have a split second decision. If someone is coming up on you and your lusus has been taken down and killed, you will have less than a second to hitch a ride with someone else. If you miss that chance, no one is coming back, are we clear?" there was a silence that followed her small speech as every troll looked at their neighbor and murmured amongst themselves. "I understand that this is a hard decision to make. But if we as a race are to survive, we'll need to get as many trolls out of this hellhole as possible. Are you all ready?" A roaring cheer came from the trolls gathered in the yard as a gate opened. "Remember, head for the forests!" she called out. A final reminder that she hoped would help most of the trolls get through the city.

When the gates were opened, everyone urged their lusii to go as fast as possible. Astris saw a few lusii immediately fall prey to the walkers. Those lusii that fell fought for the trolls they were paired with so they could get another chance to get out of the city. Wolfmom and the huge grazebeast that she had introduced to Kaaleb and Finnie ran side by side. The grazebeast swung his head at the walkers that were in their path, clearing the way and making escape easier. The death cries of the lusii that were stuck defending their charges rang throughout the dead city. The green-blood looked around and saw troll after troll get picked up by another lusus only to have that same lusus slowdown and get killed by the undead that caught up to it and its passengers. Astris returned her gaze ahead and saw the city limits. "We're almost there!" She cried out to the remaining trolls. There were only six of them left out of the original fifteen from the hive. Astris, Finnie, Trenan, Kaaleb, Narona, and another blue-blood. _The last six survivors plus three weary lusii,_ the green-blood said bitterly to herself, digging her fanged digits into her custodian's fur. Near the city limits, the number of walkers thinned out.

"Get ready for a jump!" she called as a wall came into view. It was roughly five to six feet high, low enough for the three lusii to jump. The trolls braced themselves for the impact, bouncing slightly as the impact traveled up the lusii' legs to the trolls. Astris looked back at the city once more, hopefully for the last time, and let out a victory cry. She saw Trenan's expression of joy change to one of panic as he yelled. "Astris, get down!" Atfirst the female troll was confused and didn't know what he was talking about. The turned around. A sharp pain filled all of her senses as everything went dark. The last thing she heard was her matesprite call her name before her hearing faded with everything else.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sounds and colors blended into a confusing mess around Astris. She tried to make sense of the noise that surrounded her. Her head hurt and she couldn't move or speak to tell anyone. She knew that her lips were moving but no sound came. The images that surrounded her became clearer as time passed. _What is this? Why does my head hurt? Trenan? Finnie? Kaaleb?_ She called out hoping, no praying that someone would hear her cries for help. She tried to calm down, to think about what happened before she blacked out. Her surroundings changed as she concentrated. She saw herself and Trenan on Wolfmom and Kaaleb and Finnie on another lusus running next to them. There was a jump over a wall and an impact as the two lusii hit the ground. Astris had a momentary sensation of losing her grip and nearly falling off only to tighten said grip and hang on as tight as she could to her custodian.

Next she remembered looking back and letting out a cry of victory. Her matesprite's cheerful face gained an expression of panic as he saw something come straight at the green-blood from behind. Astris had just turned around when something struck her. The source of the pain was the right side of her forehead. She replayed the memory several times until she had a clear picture of what had hit her. A low hanging branch had hit her. _Am… Am I dead? _She said, or rather thought. She didn't feel dead, it felt like she was asleep. She tried to open her eyes to see where she was but to no avail.

Her ears perked as the sound of a voice calling her name. "..tris… ast…tris… Astris…" _Trenan! Trenan I'm here! Kaaleb, Finnie where are you? _She screamed as loud as she could. The green-blooded she-troll started to swing her arms and legs in a feeble attempt to run towards the voice. "…Shit… Down!... Hold her down!" she felt hands clamp around her wrists and ankles. The feeling of being restrained made the already frightened troll panic more. She tried to get out of her restraints. Something caused her to stop her struggling. Her cheeks grew warm as something pressed against them as a voice spoke softly and calmly. "Astris calm down. It's alright; I'm here for you now. Open your eyes…"

Even though it was the soft glow of a campfire, the light hurt her eyes. She had to blink several times before her vision focused on the soft, teal colored eyes of her matesprite. She brought a hand to her cheek and took his hand, holding it tightly. "Tre…nan…" she said quietly, voice rough from disuse. Astris sat up slowly with help from him. "Astris!" Finnie squealed, running to her friend and hugging her tightly. "We were so worried about you!" The small olive-blood squeezed her friend a little tighter before releasing her and pulling away with a relieved smile. "… Where are we? How long have I been out?" she asked. "Nearly a day and a half." Kaaleb replied, walking over to her from beside the fire. "You took a pretty hard hit to your head. I didn't think you'd…" He cut off, not wanting to voice his fears to her or the others. Astris nodded, her green eyes gazing around the fire to the other two trolls, Narona and the male blue-blood who accompanied the yellow blooded girl from the city. The two of them looked young, less than six and a half to seven sweeps old. They seemed to be in a world of their own, talking to and comforting one another.

"Ast, how's your head feeling?" Trenan asked. The green-blood looked back to her teal-blooded matesprite. "I'm fine. My head hurts a little but I'll survive." She said with a smile. "Don't worry Kaaleb. I'll let you know if I have a headache or anything." She said in response to the look of concern he gave her. His expression softened as his moirail's attitude came back. She was always stubborn, even if she broke her arm or received a deep cut as a result of a strife match. The blue-blood knew from first-hand experience that his moirail would play off a serious injury as something minor and continue forging on ahead until he or someone else stopped her and forced her to rest. He just shook her head and muttered something along the lines of "I wish you'd just take it easy every once in a while…" and went back over to the fire.

Astris opened her mouth to reply to her moirail's grumbling before she was interrupted by a low grumbling from her acid bladder. Finnie stood and left Astris' side for a few moments before returning to her friend with a warm can of soup. She held the can out to the green-blood. "Here Astris, you haven't eaten since we left the city." She said with a warm smile. The green-blood reached up and took the can from the olive-blood's hands, returning the smile. "Thanks Finn. I guess I'm a bit hungry." She laughed quietly. Astris dipped a spoon into the cam and started to eat. When she was finished, she looked around the camp again. "Trenan, how far are we from the city?" she asked, looking at her matesprite. "At least ten to twenty miles. We had to keep going farther than intended because the walkers kept coming." He replied, looking into the trees that surrounded them. "We're going to move again once the sun comes up." She nodded and stared into the fire, the dancing flames seemed soothing to her.

"Well, I guess you guys may as well get some rest now. I can stay up and keep watch for a while." Astris said to the others. "Are you sure you're up for that?" Kaaleb asked, looking at her. "Yes Kaaleb, I'm sure. You seem to forget every now and then that I was raised in the woods and quite literally grew up in a den. I know what to look for and I know to alert you guys if any walkers get too close. I'm not a wriggler anymore." She said, a chuckle creeping into her voice. When he didn't look convinced, she stood up and walked over to him. "You're not my lusus." She said, punching his arm playfully. Kaaleb rubbed his arm. "I know I'm not your lusus. I'm your moirail and I'm just trying to look out for you." He said, punching her back. "But, if you insist, you can take the first watch. If you see or hear anything, wake us up and tell us." Astris rolled her eyes. "I know, I know. And if I start to get tired, don't push myself. Switch out with someone else." She said, imitating his voice and earning a slight frown from the blue-blood.

When everyone was asleep, Astris started her shift and kept watch for walkers. She paced around the camp and scanned the trees. Her eyes and ears were alert for rustling bushes and long hunger filled moans from nearby walkers. When her eyes grew tired from the strain of looking into the dark woods, she wandered back over to the fire. The green-blooded she-troll picked up a long, thin stick and poked at the coals in the fire ring. A log in the fire gave a loud pop and nearly made her jump out her skin. Astris took a few deep breaths trying to slow her rapidly beating blood pusher and calm down enough to refocus and concentrate on keeping watch.

Quiet footsteps approached the green-blood from behind, causing her to turn round to see who or what was walking behind her. Narona, accompanied by the blue-blood she was talking with a little while before and the lusus that they escaped the city with, approached Astris. The yellow-blood looked sad and almost regretful as she saw the green-blood by the fire. Astris stood up and walked the remaining distance between them, stopping a yard from the other girl. "You're leaving then?" she asked the younger she-troll. "Y-yeah… I'm sorry Astris. We just can't take it anymore. All this death and the walkers, everything, I'm so sorry..." Yellow tinted tears welled up in the younger troll's eyes as she spoke. Astris pulled the younger yellow-blood into a hug. "Shh… I understand how you feel. It's really hard to take it all in and it gets hard." She pulled away for a moment to look the younger troll in the eyes. "Take as much food and water that you need as well as medical supplies and extra ammo. Steer clear of heavily populated areas and remember, aim for the head." She said, offering an encouraging smile. "I know Astris. Thanks for understanding." The yellow-blood replied, a small smile stretching on her face. She gave the taller green-blood another hug before going over to the supply pile with her blue-blooded friend and started to pick out what they needed.

When they were ready, they slung their bags over their shoulders and climbed up the flank of their lusus. The trio started for the tree line, stopping to look back and wave good-bye to Astris. She returned their wave, mouthing a quick 'Good luck'. They disappeared into the dark forest leaving behind the trolls that they called their friends. When they were gone, Astris turned around and went back to the fire. She stared into the flames for a little while. After sometime, she began to feel drowsy. She yawned and started to doze off for a moment. Her head bobbed for a little while as the green-blooded she-troll tried to fight off sleep. A hand resting on her shoulder made her jump.

Her head whipped around to look at the troll whose hand was resting on her shoulder. "Trenan." She said quietly. "You should be sleeping." She yawned again. He laughed quietly and gently squeezed her shoulder. "Ast, go to bed." He said softly to her. "I've slept long enough so go to sleep." Teal colored eyes stared into dark green as he spoke. Astris opened her mouth to protest only to have it replaced by a yawn. "…Fine." She grumbled as she stood to go find a spot to sleep. "Astris where are Narona and her friend?" Astris froze and turned back to her matesprite. "They left-" "And you let them?" His voice rose slightly. "You didn't stop them?" The green-blooded troll shook her head. "Why should I have? They're old enough to handle themselves and fight off the walkers. They took enough food water, and ammo to last them a week or so." She struggled to keep her voice quiet and under control. "Ast, we needed that stuff to survive. What will we do if we run out?" He hissed. "We'll find an abandoned hive or something and we'll get by. They wanted to leave, I let them. Trenan please just trust me on this ok?" He looked at her for a moment longer before he turned away, scanning the trees for walkers. "… Fine, I trust you Ast."

A bright ray of morning sunlight, leaked through the blanket that covered her face. Opening her eyes and rolling over onto her stomach, Astris pushed herself up on to her feet. She looked around for a moment, disoriented by her new surroundings. The events of the night before came back to her. Narona and the younger blue-blood left in the middle of the night, taking enough food to last the two trolls a week or so. A quiet rustling of cloth made her turn to see her moirail sit up under his blanket. Finnie had been the last one on watch. She was leaning against a tree, sound asleep. The last troll to wake was Trenan. Astris caught his eye and quickly turned around and busied herself with folding her blanket and stuffing it in to her bag. She pulled a can of fruit from her bag before she latched it shut. Using a multi tool, the green-blood pried off the top of the can and carefully placed her lips around the rim of the can and tilted her head back.

When she was finished, she walked over to Finnie and woke up the olive-blood. By now, Trenan and Kaaleb had both packed up and were ready to go. Astris handed the slightly smaller troll a can of fruit and set to work folding her blanket and packing her bags. Once everyone was ready to leave and the lusii were fed, they started to climb up on the large beasts. Astris climbed up on Wolfmom with Trenan behind her and Kaaleb and Finnie on the large graze beast lusus.

They traveled for a few hours until they reached a river. It was too deep for a troll to cross on their own so they decided to stay on the lusii and cross it that way. On the other side, they took time to rest. The lusii drank from the river and the trolls drank some of the bottled water. When they were all recovered enough, the trolls remounted their lusii and continued on to a plains area.

From the corner of her eye, Astris saw a drowsy Finnie fall from her lusus' back and roll on the ground a little ways before she stopped. Kaaleb called out and halted the large graze beast. He jumped down and ran to the olive-blood and started to look her over for any injuries. Astris jumped off of Wolfmom's back when they got close enough and ran over to her friends. Finnie was lying on the ground crying and whimpering about how it hurt to move. "Finnie, Finnie what hurts? Tell us, please." Astris begged the crying troll. "M-my leg!" she wailed. Kaaleb's hands moved and felt around the troll's leg. He hissed angrily when she screamed as his hand passed over a spot on her calf. His blue eyes scanned their surroundings. They landed on a long, sturdy stick laying a few yards away. He sprang up and ran to the stick and snapped it in half and carried the pieces to the injured troll. "Astris get me a wrap and hold her still. Finnie this'll hurt for a bit…" When Astris took her place next to the olive-blood's head and prepared to hold her down if needed, Kaaleb got to work. He straightened the troll's leg and placed the sticks on either side of the leg. "Trenan give me a hand." He called as he motioned the other male troll over. "Hold the stick against her leg while I bind her leg." The teal-blood looked confused for a moment but complied with his friend's request. Within minutes, Kaaleb was finished and Finnie had been hoisted up onto her lusus' back and settled into a position in which she would be comfortable. When they were ready, they set off once more.

The Alternian sun had begun to set to their right. They came across another abandoned hive and paused for a few minutes and decided to return the next day. When they came to a place that that they all agreed on as a suitable place to rest for the night, they all dismounted and settled down for the night. The next morning the trolls woke and ate. Finnie was feeling a little better than she was the night before after getting some rest and some painkillers from Kaaleb. Once the group was finished, Trenan and Kaaleb prepared to go and check out the hive they passed the night before. He stood up and pulled Astris into a hug. "I'm going to go with Kaaleb to check out that abandoned hive we saw yesterday. We'll be back in a few hours." He looked tired, like he hadn't slept in the last few nights. "Trenan let me come with you. We'll be able to carry more food back if we have more people." He held his matesprite at arm's length and shook his head. "No Ast, you have to stay. Finnie is injured and you know she can't stay here alone." Astris looked across the plain and saw a group of no more than three walkers in the distance. When they left, Astris sat next to Finnie. The small olive-blooded she-troll smiled and laughed. "It'll be ok Astris. We can play some games until they come back."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It had been hours since Kaaleb and Trenan left for the abandoned hive. A seed of worry started to grow within Astris' acid bladder as she looked around the planes for any sign of her Moirail and matesprite's return. The green-blood stood up and paced around the fire, anxious to do anything but sit and wait for them. "Astris relax they'll be back before you know it." Finnie said. The smaller olive-blood grinned and patted the ground next to her, beckoning for her friend to come back and sit. The green-blood huffed and walked slowly back to where her injured friend sat. "How's your leg doing Finn?" she asked. "It's feeling a little better than yesterday. It still hurts every now and then but it's fine." She responded, wincing as she shifted the position of her leg.

It was nearing dusk when a noise made Astris jump to her feet and pull her pistol from her holster. She scanned the planes that surrounded her and her injured friend for walkers. "Astris look!" Finnie called, pointing out into the distance. Just down the hill, ten to fifteen yards away, stood Kaaleb. He stood there supporting an injured and barely conscious Trenan. "Astris give me a hand!" the blue-blood called up to his moirail. Astris uttered a cry of horror and ran to the two male trolls. "Oh God, Trenan! W-what the Hell happened to him Kaaleb?" She looked into her moirail's dark blue eyes, searching for an answer that she knew he would be reluctant to give her. "Goddammit Kaaleb! Tell me what the fuck happened to him!" Her green eyes stung with tears. "He… We were attacked." The blue-blood said reluctantly. Astris didn't press him for anymore answers and helped him carry the injured troll back up the hill.

They settled Trenan down near the fire so they would have enough light to work by when the sun set. The first thing that caught Astris' attention wasn't the stale, fowl smelling blood that covered her Matesprite. Nor was it his torn shirt. It was what was right in front of her, lying on the ground. Ok, so maybe it wasn't lying directly on the ground. It was more covering the arm of the troll who was lying on the ground in front of the green-blooded she-troll. There, on her matesprite's left arm, facing her and in clear view for all of the trolls present to see was a bite wound from a walker. The dark green-blooded she-troll bit back the wail of anguish that had started to build in her chest cavity. Even though she could stop herself from wailing and crying out to whatever unseen God that was out there watching as every troll's world fell to pieces around them to let him live and take her life instead, she couldn't stop the thick, green tears from streaming down her face. God as much as she wanted to cry out and scream at whatever entity watched over her world and curse them for this new grief that had entered her pitiful existence, she couldn't. She just couldn't scream and yell, she couldn't even think of something to say to him now. All she could do was wait and see what he'd turn into.

A warm hand reached out and cupped around her cheek. "Ast… Don't cry." Astris opened her eyes to see Trenan's bright teal eyes stare into hers. _He's alright! He's ok!_ She cried in her think pan. Then her blood pusher seemed to stop as she saw the edge of his eyes had started to turn the milky white that signaled he was starting to turn. "Hey Tren," she said. A shaky smile forming on her lips as she tried to hide her fears. "How ya feeling?" she asked. He licked his lips a few times before he responded. "I feel a little thirsty…" He broke off as a fit of coughs wracked his body. Astris nodded and stood to go retrieve a bottle of water for him. When she returned with the water, she unscrewed the cap and sat behind his head. She gently pulled his head into her lap and carefully and slowly poured some of the water into his mouth and waited until he swallowed before she gave him more. He finished nearly three quarters of the bottle before he weakly lifted his hand, signaling that he had had enough water. Astris replaced the cap and set the nearly empty bottle to the side.

Next to the green-blood, Kaaleb looked over the bite on Trenan's arm. He had cleaned and dressed the wound as best as he could. "Astris, can you come with me?" He said quietly to his grieving moirail. Astris shook her head, not wanting to leave her matesprite's side. "Go Ast… I'll be fine…" the teal-blood said to her, his voice barely a whisper. "But-" "Go… Stop worrying about me… Ok?" She looked down at him. He looked so fragile now. She knew that the virus was spreading through his body, she knew that she couldn't do anything for him now. "Ok." She whispered back to him, leaning down to kiss his forehead before she gently lifted his head from her lap and placed him back on the ground. Astris slowly got to her feet and looked down to her matesprite once more before she followed her blue-blooded moirail to the edge of the camp.

"Well? What did you want to tell me?" she asked dryly. Kaaleb took deep breath before he answered his moirail. "Astris… I did all that I could for Trenan. I know that you've seen the milky white that has started to rim his eyes." The green-blood nodded. "Yes I've seen it. How long has it been since he was bitten?" "Three to four hours. When we got to the hive, we started to look for whatever food we could get. We split up to try and cover more ground and try to find food faster. I went to the nutrition block and he went to go check the respite blocks. I heard noises come from where he was and went to go see if he needed help. When I got to him, there was a dead walker lying on the ground in front of him. When we continued to search for more tins of food, that's when more walkers showed up. We fought off as many as we could but he… At the time, I thought that he had a minor cut that could have been caused by him being too reckless with his knife. You know how he can get." The blue-blooded troll said looking back at Trenan, who was now sleeping peacefully. "I take it that he insisted that he was fine and could continue with the search for food?" Astris said, green eyes pinpointing on the bite wound again. Kaaleb nodded. "Astris, in all honesty, I didn't know he had been bitten until halfway back when he suddenly collapsed on me." Astris was silent for a few moments before she looked back at her moirail. "I believe you, Kaaleb. But you should have brought him back sooner." Her voice softened as she continued. "I guess the more important thing is that he's here now and we have more food, even if it's only a few days' worth…"

When they had finished talking, Astris returned to her matesprite's side. She gingerly took his hand in hers. His eyes opened slowly. "Hey Ast…" He sounded tired. He felt cold, colder than he did only a few minutes before. A quiet, tear filled 'hey' was all she could manage before she started to cry, fresh, green tinted tears staining her face anew. Trenan slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position and pulled the crying she-troll into a hug. "Ast… Hey I'm not gone yet… I still have enough time to spend with you." He whispered into her ear, hugging her a little tighter as if to keep her from falling apart.

After a little while, Astris pulled away. "I know… It's just… I'll miss you when you're gone." The teal-blooded male stared into his matesprite's eyes. "Ast, you have to promise that you'll continue to live on, even when I'm gone and one of them." He gave her a lazy smile. "I know that you're strong. And I _know_ that without a doubt that you will get through this." Trenan gently grasped her hands and gave them a light squeeze them. "Promise me, Ast. Promise that you will work as hard as you can and get through this." The green-blood swallowed what felt like a lump that stuck to the back of her protein chute. "Yeah I promise Tren…" she whispered back. She stared into his white rimmed, teal eyes for a few moments longer before bidding him a peaceful rest for the night.

When she woke the next morning, she looked around the camp. Bleary, sleep filled eyes rested their gaze on the sleeping teal-blood. At first, Astris giggled quietly when she saw him lying there, an arm over his stomach. His sleeping position seemed odd to her and a bit humorous. Her breath suddenly hitched as a thought struck her. He never slept like that. His breathing was too shallow, nearly nonexistent for that of a sleeping troll. Her blood pusher seemed to freeze in her chest as she crawled those few feet that separated them. _Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, _she repeated in her head. Had he died in the night? The slight rise and fall of his chest told her that he was still alive. _For now…_ she said to herself as she crawled closer to his still form.

When she got within half a foot of him, she slowly leaned over him. His eyes opened slowly, milky white where yellow should have been. He breathed in. The noise he made as he inhaled was horrible to her. "'Mor… ning…" He said. His voice now was raspy and barely audible. She choked back a sob. "Hey. You hungry?" He gave a weak nod and she stood to get him a can of food. On her way back, Kaaleb stopped her. "Astris." He called to her. She turned her head to look at her moirail. "Yeah Kaaleb?" He motioned her over. "One moment, let me give this to him…" She walked back to where her matesprite laid opening and handing him the can. "I'll be back in a little bit, ok?" "Yeah… take your time." He whispered.

She walked back to Kaaleb. "He's only got a little time left." he said to her. "Yeah… I know. From the looks of it, he's only got three to four hours at most." The green-blood shivered. She hated this. She hated how the next troll to turn was her matesprite. Astris looked back to where Trenan sat a little ways from the fire, empty food tin in hand. "The least we can do for him now is try to keep him comfortable until he…" she paused, not wanting to finish her sentence. She looked back to her blue-blooded moirail. "Yeah." He responded, not sure of what to say to her.

Astris wandered back to where the teal-blooded troll lay. She passed by Finnie on the way back. "How is he?" The small olive-blood asked. "Not good I'm afraid…" the green-blood responded, shaking her head. "God Ast… I'm so sorry." She whispered to her friend. "Please, don't apologize, Finn. There's no way that this could have been avoided." Astris said back to the smaller she-troll. There was a hint of bitterness in her voice. She turned and continued to walk to her matesprite. She settled back down next to him.

Trenan turned to face his green-blooded matesprite. His eyes were almost completely white. The white had started to spread over his teal irises. "Ast… I'm sorry for this. I should have stayed with Kaaleb. I shouldn't have gone off alone." He said, teal tears starting to well up and spill over his eyes. Astris pulled him into a hug. "Please… _Please_ don't…" she started before breaking off. The teal-blood weakly wrapped his arms around her mid-section. "Ast you're beating yourself up about something that was out of your control. If you want to do anything to help me, don't beat yourself up." He held her away and looked at her. His gaze softened as he looked into her eyes.

He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as his body was wracked with coughs. Astris picked up the remaining water from the night before and handed it to him. She watched as he drained the remaining water from the bottle. He dropped the empty bottle as he continued to cough. The green-blood watched in horror as her teal-blooded matesprite started to cough up blood. She stood to get Kaaleb but was stopped by Trenan's hand grasping her wrist, tighter than how he would normally grab her. "Don't… Don't get… Kaaleb." He managed to splutter between coughs. "It's… too late… for him to help…" Astris sat back down and waited for him to calm down.

When the teal-blood calmed down, he settled down and rest his head on Astris' lap. He breathed in and out as he looked up into his matesprite's face. His breath was even shallower than before. She leaned forward to kiss his forehead. He was definitely colder than he would normally be and it broke the green-blood's heart to see her matesprite slowly decay into a walker devoid of any emotion or warmth. When she pulled away he seemed to squeeze his eyes shut in pain. He groaned in pain as he rolled over onto his side. "Trenan? What's wrong? Trenan!" Astris' voice rose to a scream as she watched his body start to shake and spasm. "K-Kaaleb!" She screamed as she struggled to hold the teal-blood still and keep him from hurting himself.

All at once, Trenan's spasms ceased and he lay still. At the sound of his distressed moirail's call, Kaaleb jogged over. He watched as Astris' matesprite went still. The teal-blood's breathing stopped completely. The blue-blood tried pulling his moirail away before any harm came to her. She only pulled her arm away and pulled the teal-blood's head back up onto her lap and smoothed his hair. "Trenan… Please… Come back please." She crooned. Astris knew that he would come back. She knew he would come back, but not as himself. He would come back as a walker and try to kill her if given the chance. She knew that she had to get away from him before he turned. She understood the risks, yet she couldn't move, she didn't want to leave him.

"Astris, I know that you don't want to leave him. I can understand that, but we need to do something before he turns." Kaaleb said to his moirail. He placed both of his hands on her shoulders and looked onto her eyes. "I'll let you have a few minutes to say good-bye, Ast. After that, we'll need to do something with him before he turns." Astris nodded and looked back down at the still form of her now former matesprite. The blue-blood stood and walked back to the fire pit and added more wood, stoking the fire and creating more light for the trolls as the sky started to darken.

Finnie slowly stood up and used a nearby stick as a support. She limped over to her green-blooded friend and slowly lowered herself to the ground. She pulled the other girl into a hug. "I'm sorry. I know you don't want me to apologize but I really don't care right now." The olive-blooded she-troll said to her friend. She looked down at the dead troll in her friend's lap. It felt so unnatural for the two trolls to see their friend who, when he was alive, was always so active. For a few minutes, the two she-trolls sat in silence. When she grew tired of sitting with her friend, Finnie slowly got to her feet and limped to one of the supply bags. She pulled two tins from the bag and turned to go back to her friend. "Trenan…?" Astris had whispered.

When Finnie had gotten up to retrieve something from one of the bags on the opposite side of the camp, Astris continued to sit in silence. She was deep in thought when something had stirred her from her silent vigil. She looked down to see Trenan's corpse stir. His eyes opened. His eyes no longer held their warm, teal and yellow colors. "Trenan…?" the green-blooded troll whispered as he stared up at her with empty white eyes. She stared at his face a little longer before the reality of her situation sunk in and she opened her mouth to scream. Both Wolfmom and the other lusus were causing a commotion and, in general, freaking out. Astris pushed the now reanimated Trenan off of her lap and tried to get to her feet and run.

As she stood, she felt the cold, clammy grasp of her dead matesprite around her ankle. She turned to face him as he slowly inched his way up her leg moaning and looking at her with milky, hunger filled eyes. She lift her other leg and slammed the heel of her boot down in his arm, feeling the bones in his limb break. The newly turned walker released his grip on the green-blood. When he let go, Astris stumbled back and away from her new enemy. She tripped on an upturned root that stuck out of the ground and landed on her rear. She opened her eyes and stared straight at the oncoming walker.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. It seemed like the walker, no Trenan, would latch on to her leg and pull himself up and bite into her leg. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable, searing pain of the walker's teeth sinking into her flesh. Instead, she heard a scream of pain come from someone else. He opened her eyes slowly and saw the one thing she had hoped she never see. Finnie was sprawled out on the ground, olive tears streaming from her eyes. The same eyes that stared at Astris, pleading and begging her for help. Trenan was hunched over her neck. He pulled away tearing a large chunk of grey, olive blood-soaked flesh from her shoulder and neck.

A pair of hands pulled her away and shoved two of the supply bags into her arms. She heard a shrill whistle and the sounds of hooves and paws. The ground beneath her was trembling as the two lusii approached. Wolfmom lay down next to her custodian as two hands forced her onto the large wolfbeast. She heard the sounds of straps tightening and a huff from the second lusus as Kaaleb climbed up onto Wolfmom behind Astris. He reached as far ahead of him as he could, around his moirail, and tapped the wolfbeast's neck with the tips of his fingers. Wolfmom stood and started off, running as fast as she could to escape the area with the second lusus in tow carrying the rest of the supplies.

For the first ten minutes of the flight from the camp, Astris was nonresponsive to any of Kaaleb's questions. What was there to say? She felt numb. She felt numb and tired. All the green-blooded she-troll wanted now was to sleep. As time passed, she started to come to, almost like she had woken up from a dream. She looked around franticly, nearly going into a panic attack. "Astris it's alright. Breathe." The green-blood barely registered her moirail's words as she continued to look around, eyes landing on the male grazebeast lusus that followed them with the supplies. "Kaaleb! Kaaleb where are Finnie and Trenan?" she screamed. When the blue-blood didn't answer, she started to remember what had happened. A scream seemed to rip from the green-blooded she-troll's lips as she sunk into her custodian's fur.

Wolfmom's ears angled back to her charge when she screamed. The custodian whimpered, mourning with her charge. Behind the green-blood, Kaaleb silently mourned the loss of his friends. Pale blue tears started to fall from his eyes. He drew his sleeve over his eyes. He urged Wolfmom on until they reached a densely wooded area and they had to slow their pace to a trot. The large wolfbeast wove her way through the trees with the grazebeast following close behind. They came to a clearing and stopped. Kaaleb reached forward again and trailed his finger along Wolfmom's shoulder in a downward motion.

The custodian lay down and Kaaleb slid off her back and helped Astris down. The green-blood took his hand and slid down after him. As soon as her feet touched the ground, her legs gave out from under her and she slumped against her custodian. Astris brought her hands up to her face and started to cry. Her breath came out in dry sobs as green tinted tears flooded from her eyes. Kaaleb walked back over to his moirail after he had removed the supplies from the other custodian and sat next to her. He pulled her into a tight hug and made shooshing sounds and murmured to her, comforting her and trying to calm her.

Once Astris had stopped crying, Kaaleb pulled away and handed her a blanket. The she-troll took the blanket and pulled it over her body and rolled onto her side. Wolfmom curled around her charge protectively and lay her tail over the she-troll. "Good… Good night, Kaaleb." She whispered to her moirail. "'Night Astris." He whispered back as he took the first shift and kept a look out for walkers.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 A New Friend

Three months have passed since Astris and Kaaleb fled from the camp site where they lost Trenan and Finnie. It still hurt the green-blood to no end that two of her friends, one being the troll she promised to be matesprites with, were now part of the growing walker infestation. The night terrors that plagued the young troll seemed to have grown worse since the loss of her matesprite and there hadn't been a day that went by that the green-blood thought about her deceased matesprite and what might have happened to his reanimated corpse. She had made a promise to him that she'd live through this apocalypse and she intended to uphold that promise.

In the three months they had left the city, Astris and Kaaleb were forced to move their camp farther and farther away from the city and deeper into the woods. The two trolls had run into as many survivors as they had walkers. A few times when they stopped to help another troll or two, or even a group, they would either receive medical supplies, trinkets, or ammunition for their guns as payment. Other times the trolls they helped would try to rob them and either take a few tins of food or other supplies to trade off or just to keep for themselves.

They had arrived at another small clearing. There was a steep hill on one side of the clearing that was separated by a line of trees and bushes. The rest of the camp was surrounded by a dense wall of trees and other forest plants. Astris stood on the edge of a short cliff and kept watch for walkers and other survivors. Her dark green eyes, accustomed to searching long distances and spotting prey when she hunted, scanned the planes that stretched in front of her. She took a deep breath and started to cough as the stench of the undead trolls that shambled around in the distance flooded her nose. "I'll never get used to the smell of rotting corpses." She sighed.

Footsteps approach her from behind. Turning around, she sees her blue-blooded moirail. "Why don't you head back and get some rest Astris. We'll have to get moving in a few hours." Astris met her moirail's gaze for a moment before she turned away. "Alright Kaaleb, if anything happens and we need to move, wake me and I'll get Wolfmom up and ready to go." Kaaleb nodded and bid Astris a good night and took his place for his shift.

Astris pushed her way through the undergrowth to where her blue-blooded moirail had made a temporary camp for a couple days. The green-blood recalled a hidden bunker less than a mile from the camp. She had set up a tripwire to prevent any other trolls from taking over the hidden safe house before she and her moirail had gotten a chance to check it out for themselves. _Maybe we can check it out tomorrow… _she said to herself. If the bunker had a good store of food and other supplies, she and Kaaleb would be able to stay huddled in the bunker for a few months at a time before they needed to leave and search for food.

The soft glow of the fire was a welcomed sight to her as she carefully walked around the burning logs to her sleeping bag. Lying down on her sleeping bag, she closes her eyes to try and get some sleep. As she finally starts to doze off, a noise alerts her. Grabbing a knife, she prepares to defend herself from the potential threat. Dark green eyes scan the rustling bushes. "Who's there? Are you one of us or a walker? Answer now before I come in there and slit your throat!" Ok, so maybe she was a bit harsh with her reaction, but she knew full well that if she didn't seem threatening now, she could have her own throat slit in a matter of seconds.

"W-wait!" A soft voice called out urgently in the darkness, cautiously approaching the small group of survivors; he stepped forth from the forest, hands held up defensively should they attempt to shoot or otherwise harm him, his green eyes flashing from the she-troll in front of him to where the other disappeared. There were two that he could spot right away, but he wondered if there were more stationed nearby. "I... I'm not one of them," he spoke softly, clearly, his steps taking him forward. Small grub steps, swallowing back a thick lump in his throat as he pondered the troll's reaction to him appearing suddenly.

The girl lowers her knife slowly at first, after a few seconds she lowers it completely and her whole demeanor changes. "Sorry, it's just that since this whole thing started. We've been robbed by those whom we have tried to help and killed by those... things." She motions to the corpse of a walker not far from where she stood. She looked to where her custodian slept, twitching every so often and smiled. Returning her gaze to the troll in the trees, she waved him over. "Come over here, you must be hungry. I'll get you something." As she walked to one of the bags that were laying near a tree the new troll lowered his arms and scowled at the corpse on the ground. It had been at least weeks if not a month since he had seen any other survivors. He made his way slowly to where the girl stood with two tins of food and watched as she nestled them in a small bed of coals.

"… how many of you are here now?" He asked when he got within speaking distance of her. Astris stirred the coals for a moment before she spoke. "Just two. Before, there were six of us. Two left and the other two…" she cut off. She blinked a couple times and cleared her throat before she continued. "The other two were attacked by walkers and we had to leave them behind. My mother was injured as my friend and I escaped a horde a few days back." She motioned to a large mound of white fur. The two trolls grew quiet, the only noise between them was the soft pops and crackles that came from the fire.

Astris glanced up to the troll whom she had invited into the camp. Her dark green eyes landed upon his dark blue, blood-stained shirt. She rose to her feet and walked over to inspect him. "Are you hurt? That's a lot of blood on you." She questioned, eyes still fixed on the dried blood on the other's shirt. He glanced sheepishly at his shirt and readjusted the straps of his travel knapsack. It was a little while before he answered her. "Uhm... It's not... my blood... My lusus died back in the city. He got swarmed by them, maybe ten or more. He... died trying to save me..." He finished off, his voice grew quiet, and his words were barely distinctive near the end of his explanation. "…I'm a green-blood." He added softly, his eyes shifting to stare at the troll's custodian, eyeing her with fatigue evident on his face.

The she-troll looked at the other green-blood with concern. "I-I'm so sorry. My friend, Kaaleb, lost his custodian too. He doesn't like to talk about it much." Sitting down by a small fire she continued to speak, "It is hard, I can tell you that. But you always find a way to get through it." She gives him a warm smile and adds, "I'm Astris by the way." She holds her hand out for him. A quiet "… Mhm." Was his only response to her at first, the fire crackling merrily into the night. "...I'm sorry for him. I know my words probably won't mean much to him, but..." He bit his lip, the marble white edge of one of his fangs slitting the sensitive skin open. He was tired, more exhausted than he thought he was. He hadn't cried at the sight of his lusus howling at him to get away, to get out of the city. He hadn't cried when he saw his Moirail become a walker, he hadn't cried when he relieved his bro-pal of his suffering with a quick shot to the head. Was he just that heartless after all? His thoughts stopped when he looked down at her hand, a warm smile on her face. He grins faintly in return, his hand raising and encasing hers, shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Astris. I'm Alpheus."

"I'm sure if he heard your words, he would be happy. Those words would mean more to him than you would think." She starts to dig through a bag and pulls out a couple of spoons. She pulls one of the tins from the coals and uses her knife to open two slits in the top of the can before replacing it into the coals. She repeated the process with the other can. When she finished she stood and walked to the other bag and dug through, pulling out a blanket. She walked back and held the square of fabric out to him. "Here, this should keep you warm until the soup's done." She said. "Oh, I… Are you sure you don't need it, Astris?" he asked still holding the blanket. He didn't want to take it if she needed it. Astris looked at him and shook her head. "I'm fine. I usually sleep next to my mom. Besides, we have more if I need one." She lied. Alpheus smiled at her as he took the blanket and picked up on her lie.

The green-blood looked up into the dark sky. Little pin pricks of light shone brightly over the bright fire. She murmured something under her breath. Alpheus, a little confused by her action, followed her gaze skyward. The only things he could see were the dark expanse of the night sky, the twin moons, and the smaller stars that stretched across the sky. A quiet rustle of fur against solid ground caused the two trolls to return their gazes back earthward.

Astris jumped to her feet and ran to her custodian. "Mom! You should be resting, you can't be moving around yet." She cried as she tried to get the large wolfbeast to lie back down. Worry for her custodian flashed in her eyes as she rested her hands against Wolfmom's flank. The large lusus nuzzled her charge before she looked at the unknown troll by the fire. Astris huffed when her custodian continued to stand, staring curiously at Alpheus. She followed the wolfbeast's gaze and started to lightly pat her flank. "It's ok, Mom. He's a friend. He isn't going to hurt us." She murmured to her. Astris stood in front of her custodian and started to scratch behind her ears. A quiet groan came from deep within the wolfbeast as her ears were scratched. Wolfmom flopped over on her side in a comical manner and whined, earning a quiet laugh from the she-troll who was scratching her ears.

Alpheus, startled by the noise of rustling fur, turned in the direction of Astris' lusus. He eyed the custodian as she watched him curiously. He felt the custodian's protective instincts of her charge broiling inside the large wolfbeast. It reminded him so much of how his own custodian acted on occasion; it reminded him of how his moirail would laugh at his antics and over reacting… Without meaning to, but shivers took over him as tears started to spill down his face, dripping down to and staining the blanket.

Astris turned to say something to Alpheus. Maybe she turned to apologize to him for her custodian being so protective of her; maybe it was to say something else. Whatever the reason why she had turned around, she didn't get to voice what she had meant to say. She stood there for a few moments and watched him cry, lime-green tears falling down his face and staining the blanket she had just given him. She took a few steps towards him before she sat down next to him. "Are you ok?" she asked quietly.

He didn't answer, not right away. He continued to cry as his think pan was flooded with memories and emotions. The more he tried to control his conflicting emotions, the harder the tears fell. His lime tinted tears started to form a small puddle in his lap as his body shook with his sobs and the occasional hiccup. "I-I'm sorry," his voice was wrecked with the occasional sob or choked cry. "I just... sometimes wish... I'd..." He couldn't say it, but it wasn't like he'd never thought about it. About walking into a walker and letting it bite him... so he'd be with his Moirail, even if it wasn't physically.

Astris didn't push him to say any more. She knew what he would say, what he wanted to say. She could understand what he felt. Soon after she lost both her matesprite and best friend, she felt like she had nothing more to live for. There had been a couple times where Kaaleb had left the camp and returned an hour or so later and saw a walker shambling towards his moirail. Whenever this happened, he would see Astris make no move to defend herself and he was forced to defend her and kill the walker as quickly as possible. After the third or fourth time this had happened, he had grabbed the green-blood by the shoulders and shook her until she broke out of the daze that she would be in.

As if out of instinct, the green-blooded she-troll carefully wrapped her arms around the crying troll and held him there. "It's alright, I know how you feel. You can let it out." She whispered. With her words, Alpheus cried harder and harder. His tears became thicker, heavier; soon a river of green flowed from his eyes as he heaved one dry sob after another. He fisted his hands into the blanket as he was drowned in feelings of guilt, remorse, even the want to die. To not be constantly plagued by regret and the memory of his dead moirail and friends every time he woke from sleep.

Astris' eyes were stinging now, her own tears threatening to spill over the rims of her eyes. She was dragged back once more to the night when Trenan died and turned, when Finnie got between her and her turned matesprite, when she felt numb as she and her moirail fled. The green-blood hugged Alpheus a little tighter as she murmured reassurances to him. Wolfmom rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up and walked over and lay behind the two trolls.

The lime-blooded troll swallowed thickly, nearly coughed due to a lack of air. He started to quiver while fisting his hands into the blanket, now stained a light shade of lime green. Astris pulled away when he choked out a name. 'Arty.' It must have been the name of a really close friend, possibly moirail, that he had lost recently. She looked at him now and couldn't help but think of him as a wriggler who had just woken up from a really bad night terror. She could understand, really understand what emotions were going through his mind. His think pan must have been going around in different directions with sorrow, anger, confusion and a plethora of other emotions.

The green-blood pulled away once more and walked to one of the two bags on the ground. She fished out a bottle of water and unscrewed the cap and held it out to him. "… Here" She said quietly as she held on to the bottle, waiting for him to take it. Inhaling shakily, he rubbed his eyes and wiped away the tears, leaving a thin stream of lime green on his hand. He looked up to the she-troll, eyes puffy from his crying. He hesitated for a moment before inhaling shakily, his hand stretching forward gently before his fingers grasped the cool plastic. He swallowed thickly and he tried to smile at her but couldn't, so he settled for voicing his gratitude. "T-thank you, Astris," he mumbled shakily, hiccupping as he twisted off the cap, taking a few small gulps of water. "No problem." Astris responded with a small smile. After a few gulps of water, Alpheus gave his green-blooded host an exhausted but thankful smile.

When everything went quiet, save for the far off moans of walkers, Astris leaned forward and took the cans from the bed of coals that had long gone cold. The cans themselves were cool to the touch but the soup in the center of the cans was still warm. Taking her knife, the green-blooded she-troll pried the remainder of the lids off and handed a can to Alpheus along with a spoon. "It really is nothing. I like helping others." As she handed him the can and spoon, she couldn't help but notice his tired smile grow a little larger with gratitude. The bushes rustle as her friend, Kaaleb, emerges and walks to the fire. He walked to where his sleeping bag was located and looked up. He gave the two trolls a tired wave before he lowered himself to the ground.

Alpheus ate a few spoonfuls of the soup and smiled around said spoon when Kaaleb entered the camp. He listened to Astris talk and stayed quiet for a bit before he responded. "That's a valuable trait to have, Astris," he commented quietly, and earned a slightly confused look from the she-troll. Watching as her friend settled down on the opposite side of the fire, she thought for a moment before speaking. "You think so? There have been a few trolls who tried to kill or rob me blind." She lifted her sleeve right below her elbow, reveling a scar. "And I got this from one troll who tried to kill me and ended up losing their life." Pushing the sleeve back she looked back at the lime-blooded troll next to her. "Not all trolls are as kind as me. Especially in times like this when food and other important things are in short supply."

He looked back to the remaining soup in his can, eyes downcast. He brought the can to his lips, taking care not to cut himself on the sharp edges as he slurped down the warm meal. It was one of the few meals that he had had in the last forty-eight hours. He could understand and relate to her view, more so than he cared to admit. He lost track of how many times he'd taken pity on another troll, offered them food and shelter, and sent them on their way. Some mornings he awoke to the sight of them in the process of stealing what he worked so hard to get, other mornings he woke up to witness the troll being eaten by a walker or two. He glanced in faint worry at Astris' scar, his eyes softening. "I'm sorry... was that something I shouldn't have said?"

Astris shook her head and gave him a small smile. "No, it's alright. It's just the harsh truth of this world." She paused for a few moments as she ate a few spoonfuls of soup and dipped her spoon back into her can before she continued. "One can only hope that they either run into a kind soul or two instead of walkers and cutthroats." Finishing her soup she set the can aside. "Besides, Kaaleb and I have a plan in case a large hoard of walkers comes by." She gives him small secretive a grin.

* * *

A/N:

Thank you all for continuing to read, favorite and review this story. Both myself and my friend who owns Alpheus understand that his name has more than six letters. Homestuck belongs to Andrew Hussie. The trolls in this story belong to myself and a friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 The Bunker

Alpheus slurped down the remaining broth in his soup can. There was a metallic scraping caused by his spoon raking against the sides of the can as he scooped out the remaining noodles and meat. He lowered the can to the ground, trying to shake the eerie feeling that settled into the pit in his acid bladder. He ignored the feeling in favor of smiling at his host. His curiosity piqued when he heard hers and her friend's plan if a horde of walkers happened to stumble upon the camp. "Oh, really? Care to share with a weird troll who happened to stumble on you two?"

Astris' grin widened a bit at his question. "You do have a point. Why would I trust some troll that I just met? The reason is; I trust you." She leaned back against Wolfmom's flank. "If mom thinks you're trustworthy, then so do I." she said gently patting the wolfbeast's side earning a quiet groan from her lusus figure. "There's a hidden bunker not too far from here." She said looking at the troll next to her. "I went to check it out a few days back when Kaaleb and I arrived in this area. From what I could tell, there was food and water stored there for an event such as this. Not to mention a good amount of rooms and enough space for a fairly large amount of trolls and their lusii. If we run out of food and water, we could hunt or go to the nearest town or abandoned hive to find more"

Alpheus was quiet as she explained her plan, his own grin twitching as she smiled at the comment she just made. He felt that, even though the green-blood seemed to trust him too quickly, her trust in him wasn't misguided. He understood and knew what it felt like to be stabbed in the back and betrayed by trolls that he tried to help. Could that be why she trusted him? No, there was a different reason, there had to be more to why she trusted him.

He nodded as the information that Astris gave him was absorbed into his think pan. "Now that's interesting. I haven't heard of any underground bunkers around here, though there were rumors about them back when things were… normal." His voice trailed off, eyes clouding over as he thought for a moment. He shook himself of anything that might lead him to crying again. "...Is there a problem with this plan? I mean... It's a really good idea, but are there any walkers near the entrance?" He asked.

The green-blood looked off into the distance. "I've been keeping an eye on the location for a few days. The only times that I would see walkers near the entrance would be when they're in small groups, between three to five at a time. And after a little while, they would wander away." She returned her focus to her lime-blooded guest. "When we got to this area, we were hoping that there would be more of us." Her eyes closed as she remembered the trolls she had come from the city with. Each one of them either left soon after they got far enough away from the city to be safe from large hordes of the undead, or they were attacked. "The location of the bunker isn't too far from here. Would you like to check it out?"

The lime-blooded troll was quiet for a few minutes as he considered her offer. He was surprised at her bravery for wanting to search for this bunker. He was sure that she would not visit there by herself if she could help it. Astris, of course, would have her moirail come along when he could for back up if needed. He took a few more seconds to think over his response before he nodded again. "If it's not too much trouble, then yes. I could use a good stretch of my legs." Alpheus said smiling at her a bit goofily.

Astris sat up, giving the lime-blood a stern look. "Are you absolutely sure? I haven't been there for a couple of days. For all I know, there might be a large horde and we might need to fight or none at all." She wanted to make sure that he was ready to fight, and able to, if it came to it. She walked over to and picked up her knapsack. She rifled through it and pulled out pulled out what looked like a short wooden dowel and hung it from her belt. "I don't want to put you in danger."

Alpheus nodded, still grinning, a strange light shining in his lime-colored eyes at the possibility of walkers being near the entrance of the bunker.. "Danger? Hah! I _laugh_ in the face of danger." His grin faltered a little with the weak lie. Hell, he almost wished that there were a few walkers when they got there. He never laughed when walkers caught wind of his scent, he never laughed when he'd go to sleep in an abandoned hive, the noises of the night and the sounds of the walkers eating some poor troll was what kept him awake, and what lulled him to sleep all in one.

He pat the small pouch that sat at his hip. Inside he held an assortment of knives and small blades to use if they were to be attacked by walkers while they were away from the camp. "I can fight, you know. My Moirail didn't die without teaching me some tricks." Astris turned to look at him once more before she walked back to where her custodian lay behind the log where she sat a couple minutes ago. A small grin of her own stretched across her face. "Well then, follow me." She said.

Astris walked around the fire to where Kaaleb lay. She got down on her knees and gently shook her dozing moirail. "Kaaleb, we're going to check on the bunker. We'll try to be back in a couple of hours." She said too him, adding a few instructions for what to do while she was gone. The blue-blooded troll mumbled something to and waved his arm, letting her know that he heard her. The green-blooded she-troll stood again and walked back to Alpheus. "The bunker's a little ways west of here. Normally I'd have my Mom take me but since she sprained her leg last time, she's going to have to stay behind with Kaaleb.

Alpheus waited patiently as she instructed the blue-blood. He felt his grin stretch apart wider as she was soon at his side again. "It's fine, lead the way... Leader," he said half joking as he pat the sack at his hip. He pulled out one of the bladed weapon that was nestled in among the other sharpened blades, a cleaver. He took the sleek, recently sharpened blade of a cleaver and examined it as he tilted it this way and that, raising a brow... then he frowned. Mustard-yellow, jade-green, and fuchsia-hued blood stained the blade and hilt of the weapon in small splatters. No matter how often he cleaned the stained metal, the blood wouldn't come off.

With a small grin of her own, Astris released the stick from her belt and held it out in front of her. "Well, it never hurts to be prepared for the possibility of having to fight a group of walkers." She said softly. Her fingers easily found the hidden switch in the center of the foot long rod and applied pressure. A soft click was heard as the rod extended, a near inaudible hiss as it slid segment by segment to its full length of five feet. A long, curved blade slid out from each end of the pole. Each of the deadly, razor sharp blades glinted in the light of the fire.

"I agree," Alpheus replied in a monotone. He tore his eyes away from the bloody cleaver blade in time to watch with a slight jolt as the stick extended. Alpheus watched in amazement as the one foot long rod grew to five feet with a blade at each end. "Interesting weapon," He mused. "How did you come to acquire it, Astris?" The she-troll took a few moments before she looked back at the lime-blood.

"Hm this? I made it myself. It took nearly a whole sweep to perfect the design and mechanisms." It had indeed taken a long time to perfect the weapon and get it working perfectly. Not to mention all the sleepless nights she worked on it to the point where she could get the blades to extend and retract flawlessly and effectively. "I made it for self-defense. Every time a troll jumped me, I would pull this out and extend it. The sight of it usually made most trolls run. The ones that ignored my weapon usually went to a hospital with a deep cut or two, nothing life threatening or serious." A few small splatters of off colored blood spattered the shaft. It had obviously been used often against the walkers, more so than the gun strapped to her hip.

As she spoke, Alpheus grinned some more, a mixture of surprise and silent wonder shone in his light green eyes. The she-troll reminded him of his moirail, who also liked to tinker with things to make them work, make them function better and to his liking. His eyes rested on the blood splatters on the shaft of her weapon. It was no wonder where they had come from. "That's quite an achievement. Did you always like to make your own things?" He asked her.

Astris held the tip of her finger to her chin in mock thoughtfulness. "Sometimes. I normally fiddled with small machinery. I even rigged a complex booby trap with an even more complex one." A glint of mischief flashed in her eyes. "But, to earn a meager living, I made weapons for other trolls." As they walked, she shared how she would take designs from her customers and produce custom made weapons and other things. "Depending on the size and complexity of the order, I would make it so that the weapons were fairly cheap yet durable enough to endure daily or regular use."

As they walked and talked, he felt something bubble in his chest; it felt so foreign, like something he'd forgotten to do for so long. It wasn't until it burst from his mouth that he recognized what it was: a laugh. His face fell a bit, inclining his eyes away from her. "...I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't be laughing, right?" They were in an apocalypse, for God's sake! What was there to laugh about in times like this? Astris looked back at him, dark-green eyes studying his downcast features.

After he had apologized, she couldn't help but smile and laugh herself. "It's alright to laugh. It can help take our minds off of even the most depressing things in life and replace them with happiness, even if it's for a moment." She looked around to make sure that nothing was drawn by the noise. When she was sure that the coast was clear, she continued to talk. "I can understand why you don't think it's appropriate to laugh right now; walkers and all." "Yeah... Walkers..." Came his non-committal response to her explanation, and he felt a bit better at her attempt to cheer him up. He felt grateful for it, but he couldn't find the right words to express his gratitude, not right now. Not when they were probably close to the entrance to the underground bunkers and all.

After an hour or so of walking, the two trolls came to the clearing; they had arrived at their destination. The clearing was a good deal larger than the one they had just come from. Astris crouched behind a bush and looked around the twigs and leaves. The clearing appeared to have several trails that led out of the area, including the one they were currently on.

When she was convinced that the clearing was clear, the green-blooded she-troll darted out to into the open area. She kept her eyes and ears alert for walkers as she knelt next to a pile of dead leaves. She started to sift through the leaves, searching for the hidden hatch that lead into the bunker. When her search came up with nothing, Astris moved onto another pile of leaves. She worked in a circular path, sifting through pile after pile of leaves. Behind her, Alpheus stood in place, slowly sweeping his gaze around the clearing and trees. He felt nervous, anxious even since the two of them were in an open field; easy prey for a horde of walkers if they wandered into the clearing.

After five minutes of searching, he craned his neck to look around him, glaring into the inky shadows in the trees. "Have you found it yet, Astris?" He asked his newfound acquaintance as his gaze rested on her again. It took the green-blooded she-troll a minute or two before she replied. In the pile of leaves she was currently sifting through, her fifth mound of leaves, she found a very thin wire. A smile graced her face as she ran her finger gently and carefully along the hair thin wire. "There you are," she whispered as she started to follow it to a lower mound of leaves. She cleared them away to reveal a rusted hatch. She pulled her head up and looked back at her lime-blooded acquaintance. "Found it." she called out to him.

He swept the area one more time, senses alert for shambling forms or unearthly moans, before he looked down to the she-troll. "Well damn. Nice one, Astris." He said as he drew closer. "All this risk-taking might actually save our hides, after all." He grinned to himself, inwardly thankful that nothing had happened to them-so far. His grin was slow to vanish from his lips: he still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen soon. Astris looked up as she grasped the latch and pulled upward, hearing a satisfying click as the latch gave and the door opened a few centimeters. "Be careful getting over here. That tripwire of mine hadn't been triggered yet so it's still dangerous." Alpheus, hearing the warning and seeing the tripwire, carefully made his way over to where she knelt.

There was a strong stench of mold and mildew leaked from the hole as she pulled the hatch up farther until the door was held at a ninety degree angle against the ground. Astris recoiled as the sudden smell flooded her nose. There was something else though, a third scent that she couldn't place right away. She released the hatch and pulled what was left of her right sleeve up over her nose and mouth. She shivered as a sudden sense of foreboding settled in her acid bladder. Pulling a flashlight from the side pocket of her backpack, she clicked it on and shone it down into the black abyss below.

Alpheus' eyes watered as he sniffed the air, picking up the smell of mold, mildew, and the unknown source of the third scent. Astris swung the beam of her flashlight around the interior of the hole catching the metallic glint of a ladder right below her. "… Shit." She mumbled under her breath as she angled the beam downward to what should have been the floor of the corridor beneath the two trolls. There, where the floor was supposed to be located, was the corpse of a troll. "Poor guy must've been either too careful or too careless and locked himself in and then starved to death."

She lowered her head a little closer to the open hole in the ground and ran the beam of light over the deceased troll. From what the green-blooded she-troll could see, there were no visible bite wounds that would have indicated the troll was, or would turn into a walker. But, there _was_ a dried up pool of blood underneath the troll. That and a deep stab wound in the center of his back. "Ugh… Damn…" Alpheus hissed next to her, pulling his own sleeve over his nose and mouth to block out the smell of death and decay as best as he could. "He may have been living here for a while. That would explain why he doesn't have any bite marks... But who did this to him, a looter perhaps?" She mumbled to herself as she tried estimating how long he had been there.

Growing up, Astris had always hunted and could make a fairly accurate guess of how long a carcass had been in one spot. In the midst of her thoughts, Something had caught her eye. A trail of blood. This troll must have been carried here or he walked by himself. "Look." She points to the stab wound and the trail of blood leading away from the body. Alpheus looked past the corpse and took notice of the trail. He gave the she-troll next to him a wary look. "Should we leave?"

"I doubt that the troll who killed him is still here. But we should probably be heading back now." She looked up at the sky. Day was starting to break as the sun started to rise, turning the sky to the east a warm rosy color. "We can always get Kaaleb and my Mom and come back later. I would like them to check it out too." Astris stood up and started to close the hatch. That's when she heard it; a quiet, pain filled moan came from within the dark bunker. Another shiver traveled along her spine as she looked over at Alpheus. The lime-blood returned her concerned stare.

"Should I check?" he kept his voice a hushed whisper as he eyed the soft glow that was cast into the darkened bunker. Astris shook her head. "You aren't going down there alone." She gave him a hard look, green eyes flashing. She didn't want him to get hurt... or worse. "I'll go too if you're going down there. It's better if we stick together." If it was a single walker then there would be no problem in taking it down. Two or more would be cause for anxiety. If it was indeed an injured troll, if she-or he-was bitten then there was no cure for them. The only real thing they'd be able to do was to kill them quickly.

Alpheus bit back an oncoming argument with his fellow green-blood. Astris was on edge now and it wouldn't do him any good to upset her. "Alright, you bring up a valid point." He whispered back to her, Lime colored eyes glancing back into the murky depths below. "So I take it you're going first and I'll cover you from behind?" He asked softly after a few moments had passed. He really didn't like the idea, but she was better at this than he was. "Yeah. It'll probably be best since I can find my way around these bunkers fairly well." She replied handing him a spare flashlight before she slowly lowered herself down into the hole, scythe first.

A sickening felling settled into her acid bladder as she lightly touched each foot to the rungs as she descended into the inky darkness, flashlight clamped firmly between her teeth. A quiet tapping sound could be heard resonating off the walls as her boots made contact with the metal bars of the ladder. When she reached the third bar from the floor she jumped down, careful to avoid landing on the corpse below. "Oh God…" she hissed, pulling the remainder of her sleeve over her nose and mouth once more. The smell of decay that permeated from the deceased troll was worse as she arrived at the bottom of the ladder.

Alpheus clicked the flashlight on as he waited for her to descend into the murky depths below. He swiveled the light around to illuminate the walls, revealing dark stains on the walls (Blood?) as well as three pairs of hand prints leading away from the location in the same dark stain. When she gave him a wave, he slowly lowered himself down after her. He finally dropped down to the bottom of the tunnel. A soft squelch resounded and bounced off the walls surrounding the two as his feet sunk into something soft yet strangely warm.

As she waited for him to come down, Astris very gently use the edge of her staff to roll the corpse of the blue-blooded troll over so he was lying on his back. She carefully examined the corpse. "Damn… It looks like this poor guy didn't have a chance," Walking a few steps down the corridor, she examines each of the doors. A quiet squish like sound made her turn around. Alpheus had stepped in a small patch of mud as he had descended from the ladder. A squelch-like sound made her turn around and look to the source of the sound.

Alpheus stood with his feet in a patch of mud. She found his reluctance to look down to see what he was standing in somewhat funny concerning the circumstances. Stifling a laugh, she turned back to the corpse and examined it a little closer. _Yep, definitely a stab wound…_ she silently confirmed to herself. "Judging by the color of the dried blood around him and on his back, he was a blue-blood. She whispered to her companion, yet her whisper sounded louder due to the walls that surrounded them. She pulled her sleeves over her hands and started to slowly straighten out the deceased troll's limbs and position him into a more natural position. She whispered a few words as she slowly stood. It seemed like unusual behavior for a troll, yet it felt appropriate to her and therefore it came naturally to her.

Alpheus blanched as he saw how deep the wound really went, two or three inches deeper than it initially looked. The blue blood that stained the fabric of the dead troll's shirt was barely distinguishable from its black background. _Who could do this? _He wondered, _practically anyone I guess, if they were desperate enough._ The thought of what had happened didn't concern the lime-blooded he-troll, but why it had happened. He watched silently as Astris repositioned the dead troll's body and huffed quietly. He scanned the walls, using his flashlight to illuminate the surfaces. Three sets of hand prints, all different sizes and all colored in the same dark blue that had stained the deceased troll and the ground under him.

His ears pricked at another pain-filled moan. Or was it hunger-filled? He couldn't tell... He cautiously glanced at the troll accompanying him, awaiting her decision. Astris returned his stare with an equally cautious glance. Her head turned in the direction in which the moan came. Against the green-blooded she-troll's better judgment, she called out into the dark that stretched ahead of them hoping for a response. The only response that she received was another moan.

Another shiver made its way up and then down her spine as she took a couple of steps forward. She stopped to look back at her lime-blooded companion. "Are you coming Alph?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm right behind you." He replied taking a few wriggler steps away from the ladder. His mud caked shoes squishing on the muddy floor beneath him as he shadowed the she-troll in front of him. He cast one last wary glance at the bloody handprints that lined the wall, the suffocating feeling that something was indeed very wrong kept building and building the further they walked.

The duo entered the nearest room. Alpheus stepped forward and walked along the center of the fairly large room, examining the many cots that lined the walls. Along with the cots in the room, there was thermal storage units, shelves lined with various food stuffs, medical supplies, and a radio (more than likely broken and therefore useless) sitting on a small nightstand near one of the cots. He scanned the room with his light green eyes. His gaze was soon drawn the cot that sat next to the radio. Covering a good portion of the cot, as well as the wall behind and the floor beneath it, was more dark blue blood. Looking at the blue stains on the cot and it's sheets Alpheus had no doubt that whoever the blood belonged to didn't make it, but who or where could they have gone?

Walking a little farther than the lime-blood, Astris looked around the empty room. She stopped next to another cot. _That's strange… there are clearly signs that someone, or something, was living here up until a few days, or weeks ago…_ After a few moments of mental debating, Astris noticed that Alpheus had stopped a little ways back and was looking at something. She walked back to where he stood and looked to the blood stained cot. Her thoughts raced back to the three pairs of handprints. Something was very wrong here. _Where are the other two?_ Her eyes wandered around the room once again.

A noise drew her attention to a door a few yards away. She looked to her right. A puddle of deep indigo stained the floor near a door. Highblood. She walked over and crouched next to the puddle of indigo. Astris followed the flow of the puddle to the bottom of the door that was now in front of her. The she-troll puckered her lips and let out a short, shrill whistle, calling her lime-blooded companion over. "Alpheus, I found more blood over here and it's a lot fresher than the stuff by the ladder." She whispered, motioning him over with a wave of her hand.

He jumped at Astris' whistle and turned to see her motioning him over. Wasting little time, he made his way over, eyes widening at the sight of the pool of indigo that seeped from beneath the door. What the hell happened here? Did one of the trolls go crazy and cull the others in a fit of rage? Could it have been one of the blue-bloods, or more likely, the indigo-blood? The mere thought of an indigo-blooded troll sent a cold shiver down his back. Even when they were among the walking dead, Highblooded trolls were the hardest to kill; some of them still kept their inherited powers that they had in life after all. "So the Highblood was injured-or killed, at least-later than the others?" He looked at Astris for her comment; she was a hunter and he was a novice one, at best.

The green-blooded she-troll dipped the tips of her index and middle fingers into the indigo pool. She slowly rubbed the blood between her fingers as she thought, her eyes narrowing in concentration. "It… It looks like it. Though I would hate to run into a zombified Juggalo; more so than a regular one." She brought her blood covered fingers to her nose, no more than an inch away, and sniffed. "It doesn't smell off… It still smells normal." She stood and wiped off the blood on her torn pant leg before continuing. "If we're lucky, the Highblood will be unconscious and we can patch him up and bring him back with us." The blood was still fresh, no more than a couple of hours or so.

Alpheus nodded as Astris explained her theory, likely dabbled in sweeps of experience and being taught of the wilderness and its hazards. He cringed as she dipped her fingers into the cooling pool of blood. He was silent as the green-blooded she-troll grasped at straws as to whether the troll they were now looking for was alive, dead, or undead. His face paled a little at the mention of a zombified juggalo troll. He swallowed nervously as he spoke, his voice wavering more and more, worry and the slightest tidbits of fear creeping into his vocal patterns. "Okay, sounds like our next goal is set. We have to find the highblood and help him or her, if possible? Right?"

"If possible, yes. If not, well, we'd have to put the Highblood out of their misery." She never did like seeing other trolls suffer. To her, an injured Highblood was no different than any other troll she had met. She reached a shaky hand to the handle of the door, gripping her scythe in her other hand tightly. "Shall we try the door?" she asked, voice cracking as she looked at Alpheus for confirmation. The lime-blooded he-troll swallowed thickly again and gave her a silent nod. Astris swallowed, took a couple of deep breaths, and tightened her grip around her scythe again and wrapped her fingers around the knob. Both trolls knew how dangerous and unpredictable and injured or scared Highblooded troll was and they could, and would, lash out at towards those that just want to help them. The worst that the green-blooded she-troll hoped for was a mercy killing for this troll if they were too late to help them.

She gave him a curt nod in return. Taking another shaky breath, she turned the door knob. The door was forced open as she started to pull it outward. The force behind what, or rather who, forced the door open threw her into the wall behind her. The she-troll's head was the first thing to make contact with the solid cement wall, followed shortly by her shoulders and the rest of her body. She slid down a few feet and rest on the floor. The wind left her body and her vision flashed white then red before returning to normal. Despite her disoriented state, Astris managed to make out one thing that happened as she hit the wall. The troll, no doubt the indigo-blood from which the pool of like-colored blood came from, had a look of sheer terror on his face.

Everything had happened too quickly for Alpheus to comprehend. He was aware of a troll on the other side of the door giving the pair a fear filled glance before fleeing from the room. He had vanished too quickly for the lime-blood to spot any injuries on him, but regardless, he saw Astris hit the wall and uttered a short, panicked cry as he rushed over to see if she was alright, or even alive. He dropped to his knees, staining the fabric with mud and God knows what else, and started to inspect her scalp for any signs of injury or blood. Blood, no matter the amount, would attract walkers to them once they were back outside and thus would have to be cleaned up and covered immediately; lest they wanted to attract danger back to the camp. "Astris, are you alright?" he asked her, his voice a bit shaky.

"Y-yeah… My head hurts a bit, but I should be fine." she said, a small, barely reassuring smile on her face. She raised her hand to the back of her head, where it had made contact with the hard surface she was currently sitting against. No blood. That was a good sign, though she wished she could say the same for the tender spot that her fingers brushed against. "Looks like I might get a good sized bump in the morning though." She hissed as she flinched from the pain that even her light touch caused. She pulled herself up and stood still for a few seconds. The room suddenly tilted and she was forced to lean against the wall again to prevent herself from falling. When her head stopped spinning (and with some stumbling,) she pushed herself away from the wall and looked around the room.

Alpheus nodded as she spoke, not sensing any waver in her voice. She seemed fine, though her wound would require medical attention if she worsened. He eyed the she-troll carefully, cautiously, and lime-green eyes widened as he jolted forward, readying himself to catch her in case she fell-but she caught herself just in time, pushing away from where she was when she steadied her balance. He smiled softly; the adrenalin must've rushed to her head and caused her balance to come into question. Still, he reminded himself to not let something like this happen again. "Ok…" He chuckled. "So long as you stay in one piece, Astris" he said using an 'I'm kidding' tone before he turned serious again, eyeing the closet where the Highblood had been hiding only moments before. Where do you think he went off to? I don't see any alternate routes he could've taken."

He was right; there weren't a whole lot of routes that the frightened Highblood could have taken. "He must have gone deeper into the bunker," It was a guess, but it was better than nothing and not having a clue as to his whereabouts. "From what I've seen, the deeper you go into a bunker like this, the better protected and equipped you would be to protect yourself from someone trying to kill you." Astris said. She had only been in a bunker once, and that was before the dead became the undead and started to kill everything in their paths. Astris had started to slowly walk towards the door when they heard another unearthly moan.

"...'From what I've seen'?" Had she been in an underground bunker before? He wondered about that as he cautiously stepped forward, an unsettling paranoia and bitter taste entering his mouth as he took another step forward. Things had gone from hysteria to all-out madness and anarchy, ever since the first reported incident of cannibalism. God that felt like sweeps ago, but it must have been more like half a sweep or so, that everything went to hell- wait. He paused in mid-step, his ears pricking at a sudden moan. Pain-filled? Hunger-filled? He wasn't sure... but it could be the highblood at worst and a walker at best.

"... I found a bunker like this one when I was younger. I was two sweeps old and I had gotten separated from my lusus..." Her dark green eyes seemed to grow slightly darker as she spoke. "I was wandering around an old abandoned hive hat I had found. Being young and curious, I went inside." She took a moment before she continued." After looking around for some time, I grew bored and left. I walked over a patch of grass and everything went dark. I had wandered about for a while until I came to an exit. I climbed up and out and was later found by my lusus who scolded me for being so careless." She chuckled remembering how her lusus had fretted over her until she was satisfied and knew that the young troll was safe

Returning her focus back to the present, Astris walked to the door and stuck her head out. Closing her eyes, she focused on the noise that had been coming from deeper within the bunker. It definitely wasn't a walker. "It's the highblood. He's scared and injured," She says to herself, eyes still closed. "He may have gone so long without contact from another troll that he doesn't know how to react to another troll trying to help him." Pulling herself back into the room, she gave Alpheus a determined look. "We need to help him. Otherwise, infected or not, he _will_ die."

Alpheus knew he should have been listening to everything that Astris said, yet he was too absorbed in his memories to have even noticed that the she-troll was speaking. As she spoke, Alpheus was transported back in time within his own memories to when he was a grub. Picked up by the custodian that cared for him and then his pale-bro who would convince him to pursue some form of artistic career. But... all of that was gone, his former life. Crumbled to the ground and spat on. He sighed, shaking himself free of his thoughts. The here and now was what mattered, not back then. "Yes, you're right, Astris. Forgive me." He murmured softly.

The darker green-blooded troll's gaze softened as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Under her touch, Alpheus tensed. He didn't mean to. It reminded him of when she tried to, and succeeded at, cheering him up. "It's alright, Alpheus. There's no need to apologize." She smiled. She didn't know why, but something made her feel uneasy when they both entered the bunker. Perhaps it was memories of the time when she was temporarily trapped in a similar bunker that came flooding back. Astris didn't want to voice her concerns just yet. Something about this place seemed off. She turned around and started walking down the hall in the direction of the sound.

The lime-blooded male followed behind. He shivered as he shadowed Astris' movements, the further they walked, the harder it got to breathe. That feeling... that premonition that _something_ was terribly wrong made him feel sick. Another sorrow filled howl made its way to the two troll's ears. Astris' whole body stiffened at the sound, her eyes stinging as she fought back her own sorrowful cry. Clenching her free hand into a fist and tightening her grip on her scythe, she walks faster. Her pace went to a jog and then a full on sprint. Some part of her wanted to run as fast as she could in the other direction, while the rest of her wanted to run to the source of the cries and help. She kept running, turning around corners, and leaping over debris, all the while ignoring the dull pain that was starting to grow in intensity in the back of her head.

Holy Shit! When Astris wants to get going, she is gone! Alpheus stood there, mouth gaping and wondering how he could possibly keep up with her as she disappeared around a corner. He started to move, walking faster and faster as he followed the same path that Astris had. It took him a full two minutes to break into a jog then a sprint as he struggled to keep up with the she-troll as she leapt and slid over obstacles that blocked her path. Once or twice she ran into debris that she couldn't go over and had to squeeze herself through a fairly large crevice between the wall and debris allowing her companion to catch up. Skidding to a stop in the middle of a larger area, possibly a room, that had a few walls collapsed exposing fresh soil and dirt, she looked around.

She flipped and rolled over small mounds of rock and timber and squeezed through the occasional crevice, and it took him a good two minutes before he broke out into a jog, then a quick dash. Nowhere as quick as Astris, of course, but he made sure to stay behind her enough to catch the faint outline of her footwear on the beam of his flashlight. "W-wait up, I can't move-" He stopped mid-sentence, not having enough time to slow down to notice that she had suddenly stopped. He crashed into her, automatically wrapping his arms over her shoulders, steadying her balance so she wouldn't fall. "S-sorry," he whispered, quickly removing his grasp, a faint green tint colored his cheeks.

The sudden impact of Alpheus running into her caused her to let out a tiny squeak. Astris quickly covered her mouth to keep herself from snapping at the male troll in annoyance as a deep green blush started to color her normally gray cheeks. "I-it's alright..." Damnit why didn't she notice how close behind he was? Her blood still pounded in her ears and she had a headache from her running and the impact from her hitting a wall earlier. Her hand went up to feel the area that held the most pain for her. Alpheus glanced at her, noting the movement. It must hurt worse than it seemed before. Astris' gaze went up and swept along the surface of the wall in front of them.

Three differently colored figures were painted on the surface along with several minor looking figures. The main three figures, blue(possibly the dead blue-blood at the entrance), an indigo colored one(the highblood.) and a black charcoal colored figure(Possibly unknown). The figures seemed to play out in different event scenes, one scene showed something similar to the highblood and the blue-blood traveling together for a time. The drawings on the wall, not an unusual trait for most high/indigo-blooded trolls, must have been his way of reminding himself of what happened and what must have caused him to slowly lose his sanity. She stepped forward and placed her hand on the wall and traced the scenes with her fingers. She opened her mouth to ask him about the pictures when something caused her to turn and look to the corner of the room not too far from her.

Cowering in the corner, hidden by some debris and the thick inky shadows was the Highblooded troll, crying and murmuring to himself. Shining her flashlight into the dark, she lit up his head and shoulders. The indigo-blooded male looked up suddenly to the source of light and shrunk back. Seeing him now, Astris felt even sorrier for him. His clothes were bloodied and torn, both his blood along with the same dark blue that belonged to the dead troll at the ladder.

Astris turned her head and looked at Alpheus, keeping her light fixed on the highblood. The lime-blood flexed his grip on the hilt of his cleaver, alert for any indication that the indigo-blood would attack. "Alpheus put down your cleaver, not too far away that you won't be able to reach it, but far enough away so that he won't feel threatened by it." As she spoke, Astris lowered her scythe to the ground and pulled her knife from its sheathe and placed it alongside the larger weapon. She used her outstretched hand to push the two bladed weapons a foot or two away and settled into a cross legged position, keeping her eyes and light trained on the troll in front of her. If he was infected or insane, he would have gone after her first and not cower away like he was.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, sorry for the inactivity. I've been on a bit of a hiatus due to writer's block and school. Any way here's chapter seven!

Homestuck belongs to Andrew Hussie. The characters on this story belong to myself and a friend.

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Chapter 7 Markos

Astris sat in silence for a few moments, watching the high-blood. She and took a calming breath. "It's alright; we aren't going to hurt you. We want to help you…" she said quietly to the trembling indigo-blood. Behind her, Alpheus swallowed thickly before he too spoke. "Please, do not be alarmed. She is right. We are here to assist you; you're the first we've seen in quite a while." A pause.

The Highblood then tilted his head at him, and it took a great deal of Alpheus' self-control not to shiver when those high-strung indigo eyes pointed in his direction. He cleared his throat before continuing. "How long have you been hiding down here?" The higher troll stared at the two for what seemed like hours before he spoke, his voice rough from disuse. "Four weeks…" He growled at Astris as she attempted to get closer to him, causing the she-troll to settle back into a crouch where she still sat.

Astris narrowed her eyes slightly, keeping them trained on the troll in case he did try to lunge at her or Alpheus. "Was that your friend? Back there at the ladder?" There was silence as the indigo-blood continued to stare at her, refusing to answer until she asked the question again. "That dead troll back there, the blue-blood. Was he your friend?" The troll looked from Astris to Alpheus and back a few times before he spoke. "…Yes… My friend." The troll buried his face in his hands as his shoulders began to shake and translucent indigo leaked from between his fingers. "He did this! That…that son of a bitch killed him!" His voice rose as he cried.

Astris opened her mouth to ask who killed this troll's friend, but her mind flashed back to the drawings. She had a hunch that her answers were on the wall behind her. She reached out and curled her arms around the Highblood, giving him an awkward hug as she murmured to him, trying to calm him again. Alpheus watched the indigo troll for a little longer before he handed him an unopened bottle of water. The indigo-blooded he-troll took it gratefully and downed nearly half of the bottle before he stopped. "Here, drink. You must be thirsty," he spoke slowly and clearly, waiting for the indigo blood to accept it.

"T-thanks…" The indigo-blood mumbled. Astris quietly laughed. "You're welcome and it's not a problem. There's more water if you need it." She smiled, hoping to give the highblood some kind of reassurance. "Even though our world has gone to hell, there are always some who are kind to those who need some kindness." She said. Looking at Alpheus, she smiled. The look of fear and danger faded from the troll's indigo colored eyes. The indigo-blood nodded.

He silently breathed in relief, watching as the anxious fear and high-strung look disappeared from the Highblood's eyes; he could pick up on no negative emotions from the indigo-blood, and he felt himself relax as a smile graced his lips. "You must've had it harder than most of us on the surface," he spoke softly. Silence overtook the lime-blooded troll as he remembered something else, staring at the Highblood calmly. "What's your name?" he asked politely, his green eyes glimmering curiously. "I'm Alpheus and she's Astris."

The indigo-blooded he-troll took a few moments before he answered. When he did respond to Alpheus' question, his voice was quiet, almost like he was afraid to reveal the three trolls' location to any nearby enemies. "Markos… My name's Markos." After a minute of silence, he looked back at Astris. "Sorry about earlier… are you okay?"

Astris blinked a few times, mild surprise showing clearly on her face. "It's nothing too serious. I hit my head, but it doesn't hurt too much." She said, running her fingers lightly along the patch of sensitive skin, wincing a little at the new wave of pain that her light prodding caused. She smiled at the indigo-blooded he-troll who looked away, ashamed of his earlier actions when the two trolls attempted to help him. "I can understand why you ran. You were afraid. No one can blame you." The green-blooded she-troll said, a hint of laughter creeping into her voice.

Alpheus grinned as Astris laughed, refastening his knapsack and readjusting the straps. His grin faltered as the same ominous feeling, the same feeling he felt before entering this place, crept over him like the blanket of darkness that stretched across the sky outside. Anxiety settled deep within him as his gaze shifted left and right. He _swore _he heard something just now. "Markos, Astris. We have to leave. Now." He whispered, unease creeping over him again, stronger this time. "We can't stay here."

Astris picked up the urgency in her fellow green-blood's voice. Looking at him, she nodded. Turning to Markos, she held out her hand to help him up. The indigo-blood reached out to take hold of her hand and get to his feet, pausing and looking around frantically. "I-It's coming back… He's not dead. Why… Why. Why. Why. Why?!" He curled up into a ball on the hard, concrete floor and rocked back and forth, mumbling to himself. The frightened troll wrapped his arms around himself and continued to mumble as his indigo eyes darted around the dimly lit corridor.

Astris retracted her arm and quickly bent down to pick up her knife and walked behind Alpheus and picked up the cleaver, handing it to the lime-blood. Alpheus was right; something was off about this place. "Come on Markos." Astris said, stopping to turn around and look at the high-blood Markos hesitantly stood and followed after the two trolls, looking around the dark corridor as they walked back to the entrance.

The lime-blood looked between his fellow mid-blood and the indigo-blooded troll. His brow quirked at Markos' statement. He nodded in silent thanks as Astris returned his weapon. his heart hammering wildly in his chest, a wild, unsteady rhythm repeating over and over again. He watched as fear seeped back into the high-blood's eyes before the taller he-troll started on his way back to the entrance. He followed the set of muddy foot prints, too large for his own feet to fit into, that Markos left in his wake.

Astris looked around the room as the other two trolls started down the corridor she and Alpheus had come through when they had followed Markos. Something was off. An uneasy feeling settled into the pit of her stomach as she turned to follow after the other two. Being a few yards behind, she caught up quickly as she jogged after them. She slowed her pace as she heard the others' foot steps stop. Had they started climbing the ladder? No, she didn't hear their feet hitting the metal bars of the ladder as she would have if they were ascending to the outside.

Rounding the last corner, she saw the two he-trolls. She picked up her pace and was about to call out to them until something struck her as strange.. She remembered that when she and Alpheus had entered, there was the corpse of the blue-blood lying just below the ladder. Now, there was nothing more than the dark-blue stain left on the ground and the blue hand prints along the wall. At first, she thought they had come to another entrance, but she soon dismissed the thought as another pushed its way into her mind.

"... Alpheus, where's the body?" She asked as a sudden wave of unease settled over her. "Good question," he responded, feeling the color drain from his face. He blanched in surprise as Markos walked a few steps ahead and continued muttering to himself. His head whipped around, lime-green eyes glaring into and scanning the darkness that surrounded them. His hand that held his small flashlight moved the small device, the light rolling along the floor with the movement. The small beam of light traveled over the floor and followed a trail of dark blue drops of blood over to... a pair of muddy sneakers?


End file.
